Sapphire Tales
by NeighborHoodAbsol
Summary: Enter the life of an Absol who takes in a stray Eevee as his own blood, even though others would have taken it as another meal of the day. Follow Sapphire as he changes his life style now that there is a child under his care, but the bonds will soon become strong enough for them to call their respective roles: Father and son.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Thank you for clicking on this story. As this is just a prologue, the next few chapters will be much longer than this current one. I hope I will make something great from this start of a story, and that you guys will enjoy it.**

**P.S. I'm still really bad at using this site.**

I live my life as really your everyday Absol, hunting down meals for the little ones and just everyone in general. My mate sent me on a mission to hunt down small Pokemon that could potentially be fed to smaller Absols. We are expecting to have a cub soon, so I do my best to find whatever I can.

I start walking drenched in the cold rain as it rolls down my white fur, my paws stepping in puddles of mud and water. The rain is heavy as it keeps pelting my body, trying to force me to stop this hunt, but the rain was nothing but a simple bother. I look around to see the forest completely void of the Pokemon that usually inhabit this area. Occasionally the bird Pokemon would fly away on sight and they would quickly be out of my range, making me unable to catch them. I growl as a keep searching, my deep-blue eyes scanning the area.

"I hope Abigail doesn't get mad with me," I whispered to myself. I kept searching as I still saw no potential prey. I run quickly across the forest as I try a different area, hoping to find something that will be a good meal, something that will feed a small cub. I look around again, with the only noteworthy thing I find is a tree uprooted from the ground and laying on the ground. I can see the burn marks on it as I knew it could have potentially been some lightning or a fire Pokemon. I couldn't imagine a Pokemon here that could use such a move, let alone Ember that is probably their weakest attack.

I saw it as a simple piece of nature as I continued to scout, not knowing about the amount of Pokemon that were truly hiding from me. I felt as if the rain was obscuring my sense of scent as I smelled nothing to eat, let alone anything edible. I decided I shall walk around the area of the fallen log and use it as a sort of landmark, the Pokemon that destroyed it couldn't have been far. I could use a good battle as well.

"The best way to get your meal is to fight for it," I said, the memory going through my head. These words are basically the foundation of all predators and Pokemon that need to find their meal.

That was when I saw the brush ahead of me rustle as I took a defensive stance, getting ready for anything to pounce on. I waited, by tail raised in the case I need to use my iron tail. Then I saw it, a small cub that was no taller than my leg, with a small tuff of red hair on top of its small head.

A Litleo, the perfect meal. It has yet to notice me as I look around before I tackle it. I pounce as it looks at me with its innocent eyes, not able to process what's going on. I extend my claws as it glows purple, and with one swift swipe, I travel it across its neck.

A clean kill and a quick meal, something small for the young ones.

Before I could pick it up in my teeth, I notice another movement in a different bush to my left. I freeze as I saw the large feline approach me with its teeth bared. Its mane is massive as it surrounds it whole head and I could see fire leak from its teeth.

He looked over to the dead cub in front of me, a face of anger reaching his face. "You… MONSTER! I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared. He started sprinting toward me, fire lining his teeth. I quickly grab the dead Pokemon in my teeth and bolt, hoping to outrun him. I moved quickly as I sped up my movement and started towards the fallen log area, the perfect ground to engage if I have to. As I made it to the area, I jumped to the opposite side of the log, dropped my prey and looked behind me. As he entered the area, I was faced with the look of pure anger and hatred.

"Looks like we have a stand off of some sorts," I state. "I'm guessing your anger is completely directed towards me. Not that it should be much of a surprise." My mocking was enough for him to pounce at me, his large body now in the air.

A star of fire came from its mouth and shot it at me. I did the same as I just instead fired a stream of fire at it, colliding with it. The smoke filled the air as I saw the Pyroar about to tackle me with its body. I decided to use my strongest attack on him.

I moved quickly as I escaped his vision, then I was able to strike him with my body from the side, sending him flying into a tree on the left of me. I then followed it up with my claws growing a large purple as I followed it up with a swip across the eyes. He roared in rage as he held his face, obviously showing my attack was a success.

He roared again, the loud noise echoing through the entire forest. I heard footsteps in a the distance as I found himself surrounded by a female Pyroar and two more males. I can tell that they wanted me gone, with the baring of their teeth being an obvious sign. All four of them wanted to skin me then eat me alive, but I wasn't going to let them.

The two male Pyroar charged at me, their fangs lined with fire. I saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, literally. I charged up an attack as stones appeared and started to orbit my body. Their sharp edges made perfect weapons as I sent them towards them. They suffered the attack greatly as I saw the damage I dealt was critical due to their inferior typing.

The two retreated like the Poochyena they truly were. I swear I heard the female curse as she helped out who I assumed was her mate. She decided to take matters into her own paws as she covered herself in fire and charged toward me. This was the only good reason I had a reason to love the rain as her attack didn't seem very potent at all.

I countered with another Night slash, attacking her head on. As soon as we collided, the flame around her disappeared and the claw managed to get through and use a vertical slash against her. It sent her flying toward the one who just recovered, who in turn were dog piled on each other. I took the chance as I took the Litleo in my mouth and ran toward where Abigail and I had been living in.

Without much working, I managed to get away with their roar echoing throughout the forest. I smirked as I continued my way through the woods and past the several trees.

I jumped from stone to stone as I made it to my mate and I's den. The place was pretty small, but there was a pool of clean water beside us, along with several bones from unidentified Pokemon that we previously ate all along the ground. My mate was sleeping with two eggs in front of her in the small cave to shield herself from the downpour, her quiet snoring told me that she was having a nice nap, even past the cold rain.

Abigail and I really didn't have the kind of relationship where it's really 'friendly.' She just wanted to have cubs to raise, and I believe she was expecting me to help her be the father of the family. But to be completely honest, her attitude towards me isn't the greatest, almost to the point where I almost hate it. The only reason she chose me to be her mate was because she was impressed with my battling capabilities, not for anything else. And the reason I went with mating her was because I want to know that my family tree gets started somewhere, with hopes that it will become remembered among Absols. But she was the type of Absol that I thought others would most likely hate, so in turn the children will be hated as well.

I've been thinking about the pros of being with her. The one that I can think off the top of my head is that my children will have my bloodline, with that being the only thing. And the cons outweigh the pros tremendously. I shook my head as I looked at her again with the eggs, my thought starting to effect me physically. I know what I had to do, and I had to do it quick.

The Litleo will be my departing gift to her I have decided. As it was about time I did what I wanted to do for quite some time.

There's no space for goodbyes as there was never room for one in the first place. With a prayer to Arceus that she will be alright with my future children, I jump down the mountain, never looking back once and heading in the opposite direction away from her.


	2. Chapter 1: Shocking Sight

**A/N: For those who reviewed, favorited, or reading this story, thank you so much! I love everyone who takes the time to read my stories, and it's such an honor to know that people out there love my work. Thank you, and enjoy this chapter.**

I've been walking for about two hours from the moment I departed from our den, my claws now covered in mud.

The heavy rain had settled down to a small drizzle, the sound of other pokemon coming to my ears, but hunting was not my goal right now with the addition that I was not hungry. I come up to a lake in which I see several water type pokemon just beneath the surface. The first thing I spot is a magikarp jumping out before going back into the water, the splash going into my face.

I get slightly agitated as I shook it off and decide to start walking on the outskirts of the body of water. I remember about the pyroars I pissed off earlier, thinking about if that if they would track my scent down and try to kill me. Or track the scent of the Litleo back to Abigail. I shook these thoughts off and continued.

When I reached the end of the lake, I heard yelling from what sounded like it came from not too far, and I can tell that the talking voice didn't seem to friendly to whatever it was yelling at. "You useless eevee!" a masculine voice yelled. I moved closer to the voice. When I got there, I saw the earlier-adressed-eevee on the ground, cowering from a very angry jolteon.

"Pl-please, I'll do better next time! Just please give me a second chance!" the eevee pleaded.

"Second chances are just an excuse to screw up again Brat," he responded.

"I'm serious. I can please you with whatever! JUST DON'T LET ME LIVE OUT HERE WITHOUT HELP!"

"What did I say you need to call me when I took you in?" he added, a look of cruelty on his muzzle. "The one I am pretty sure we agreed on?"

"You're... my daddy," he whispered, obviously feeling angry saying it. "And I need to do what you say without question. In return, you'll take care of me."

"I see your lips movin', but they ain't making the sound the sound I want to hear," he teased. He raised his paw, claws sprouting from the tips. Electricity coursed through his foreleg then he moved it toward the little guy.

"NO PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTH-" but it was too late, he was already getting shocked. The cruelty this jolteon harbored was quite an ugly sight. He was just prodding him very slightly, the shocks scaring the eevee each time. With a closer observation, I saw the he was crying his eyes out. It was by the looks of it through size and inability to defend himself, it seemed like a cub. The attacking stopped and he moved his head down to the eevee's eye level.

"Anything you say?" he repeated, pleased with the child's willingness.

"YES! JUST LET ME CO-LIVE WITH YOU. I WON'T LAST A DAY OUT HERE ALONE!"

The jolteon was nodding in approval. "That is very true, but is the 'anything' part actually true? That's what I am curious about," he asked.

"Yes daddy," he hesitated, but said in a firm voice.

"That's my boy. But first, how about we get something we eat? Pretty sure the lake near us have berries and a lot of magikarp we can eat. Lets see if you can kill yourself a magikarp, then I'll let you have some of the berries I eat."

"Okay..." he whispered.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU," he yelled, covering his ears with his paws. The little guy just decided to go to the lake and do what he said it seemed like. "About time you take the role of leader. You're already learning." With that, the jolteon followed close by.

How other pokemon raise the little ones like that is beyond me, and when he repeated 'Anything?' I can just imagine what the kid would see, most likely things he's not ready for. I thought about confronting that jerk-of-a-father jolteon and teaching him a lesson or two.

I followed close by, making sure not to give any hint of my presence to them. I don't exactly want to engage on him first, just not with the kid too close. I want to see if the jolteon is even worth taking down, so I stalk for the next few minutes.

When they reached the lake, the eevee turns around to the jolteon, who currently was only interested in the berry trees off in the distance. "What do I do now?" he asked him. I decide to hide in a bush not too far, and I was quick enough for the bush to not rustle.

"What are you? Tone deaf? Go kill a magikarp," the jolteon answered.

"K-kill?" he repeated, not liking the word. "How am I supposed to do that with my bare paws? I don't have the claws to ki-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the jolteon's claws were slashed across the eevee's muzzle. "Don't question me kid, make do with what you have and do what I say!" The eevee started to cower with his front paws covering the open wound where blood had leaked out. It went to the point where his tears was mixing with the blood. "Hmph, seems like the wild is too much for you. Find yourself a trainer or something. I'll leave you to that magikarp. Either kill yourself one, or find a human to capture you. I'll come back later to see what you've done and how you've done it. Who knows, maybe a predator more dangerous than me will come by and eat you. Hey, are you even listening!?" The eevee just moaned in response. The jolteon raised his fore leg where electricity coursed through it and tapped the eevee on the forehead.

I knew now that this jolteon didn't want anything to do with him, it seemed to me that the little guy was just a slave needing attention and someone to look after him. A cruel life for safety, a deal that seemed terrible. Then again, he was just a child.

"Pl-please stop! I'll get that magikarp!" the eevee blurted out, the electricity shocking him. By the time he stopped shocking him, I saw that the electiricty was running through his body. Paralysis was obvious with him.

"Good, when I come back and see a magikarp under your paws, I will give you the chance for evolving." With that, he left the eevee alone.

"He-he's right about me not being able to handle the wild... maybe I should just stay here and... die like mommy. I'll get a m-magikarp later, I just need some sl-sleep," the eevee whimpered as he closed his eyes.

The rain had finally stopped as the sun was able to break through the dark clouds. I exited the bush I was in and walked closer to the eevee, his collapsed form lay there motionless. However, I moved my head closer to him and I was able to hear his breathing, but it was too shallow for it to be healthy. I thought about earlier to put it out of its misery by having it as a quick meal, but upon closer look, the poor thing may have a cold.

I looked in the direction of where the jolteon headed, seeing that he was nowhere in sight. I thought about it as I examined the wound on his face. It wasn't too deep, just enough to draw blood. I can tell that this was more of a "warning cut" instead of one that wanted to really hurt him. However, the only thing my instincts were telling me was to save this eevee. But... why? I've tried to kill other eevees before and I have even gone against all of its evolutions and been victorious in all of them but one. I don't get it... why do I want to save _this_ eevee?

These questions constantly poked at me, wanting to be answered. It irritated and annoyed me, I simply hated it.

My train of thought crashed as I heard a roar come from behind me. It was too close for me to get comfortable, as I saw a female pyroar jump into my view, her teeth bared. She looked over to the unconscious eevee to my side and glanced back at me. "Looks like you had another kill. Guess one loved one isn't enough for you today?" she ask, her voice clearly still angry. I can tell that this was the same one from my Litleo kill.

"Tell me, what makes you think that you coming back will change a thing? Or did you come back just to relive the moment of you getting embarassed by others?" I answered with a smirk.

"Shut up you impudent absol. You have no idea what you're dealing with right now. I assure you, I'm a force to be reckoned with."

"Then explain why I managed to put your face into your mate's hind quarters?" I tried not to, but I chocked back a laugh, but I was sure she heard it. Not that I cared.

"It was the stupid rain. Now that that stupid factor is out of the way. However, this I want to be a one-on-one. Just us, no strings attached."

"I'm curious. What is winning going to do for you exactly?"

"This is actually an offer I am proposing right now. You can feel free to turn away, take the eevee to your family, and pretend that this conversation never happened. However, if you take this offer up, and defeat me, I will tell my pack to leave you alone and your mate. How about it?"

"How exactly do you have power over your pack? You're a girl. So what happens if I lose?"

"You will leave this forest along with your mate, you also have to give me the eevee as something I can bring back. After all, I'm the leader's mate and I can basically convince him. Along with the added bonus that eevees taste delicious."

"Aren't females less dominant than males there? Last time I checked, a male was the one calling the shots."

"That's because I can seduce him to do the many things I want, and he decided to leave the planning to me."

It was tempting, defeating her will make sure that my mate was safe along with the cubs. But at the same time, I left her because I didn't want to do anything with her. However, if I lose, the eevee would be out of my possession and lost, something that I didn't want to do. The only thing that mattered to me was keeping him safe, I cared more about him than my mate herself. I closed my eyes thinking about it.

"Strange. I was honestly expecting a much quicker answer," she said.

After a while of thinking, I finally start to make eye contact with her, preparing my simple answer. "No," I say in a sort-of whisper, but loud enough for her to hear.

"Really? Keep in mind that my mate plans on attacking you guys, you sure you don't want to make sure that doesn't happen?" she pestered.

"Feel free to hunt me down, but keep in mind that I was able to defeat you guys from a one versus four. Not to mention I was able to stop a strong fire type move with a physically weaker one. There's also another reason I said no," I looked back to the eevee behind me, who was still unconscious, "I no longer need my mate in my life."

"What do you even plan on doing now?"

I was surprised by her curiosity to know what was going on, but I just put it to the side and gave her a straight answer. "It's none of your business." I walked to the eevee and grabbed him by the tuft of fur around his neck. He slowly moved his paws around as if he was running, but it was short lived as he was simply too tired to do anything at all.

"Are you blind? That eevee is still alive, why haven't you killed it?" she adds.

Seeing that my mouth is full, I start to walk away from her, and in the opposite direction of where the jolteon went.

I set down the eevee on the ground before I looked around to see some berry trees close to me, along with a large fallen, hollow log near me . The closest berry to me were oran berries. The amount of berries were abundant and looked just right. I try one myself as I pick one off with my teeth and eat it in a single bite. It had the right mix of flavors that I knew that many other pokemon loved. However, I took notice of the small plant near the tree.

"A revival herb," I say out loud. I remember taking one of these from my father. I tried to take on a luxray while I was newborn and uninformed of what's dangerous and what's not. My father found me before I was about to be finished off by it. He fed it to me and as unexpected, it was extremely bitter. I wanted to spit it out, but I felt my body's wounds heal. I knew it would work for this eevee if I can feed it to him.

I took the top in my teeth and cut off half of it with my claws. Just to confirm I took a small bite of it, and just like I hoped, I didn't want to swallow the bitter taste. I turned around to where the eevee was resting, only for it to not be there.

I simply looked to the fallen log across from me, seeing the eevee hide in there from what looks like me. Another shock of electricity paralysed him, and I can tell that he was also in pain. I approach slowly, not realizing that I dropped the herb.

"GO AWAY!" he yells. He attempts to run away, but another shock of electricity stopped him. I didn't want to hurt him, as I grabbed his tail in my teeth and dragged him out. He starts screaming as I hold him upside down, trying to attack me with his front paws. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I drop him right there in front of me and begin laying down on my stomach where I was eye level with him. He gained composure and started to look at me, his eyes still full of fear and uncertainty. "Calm down kid," I tell him.

"Wh-what? You aren't going to e-" before he could finish it, another shock. He was falling in my direction, but I was able to use my head to hold him up. After it was done, he opened his eyes and saw that I kept him up. I smile as he gets off.

"No, I'm not going to eat you kid," I answer. "You got a name?"

"N-name? My name is... Brat," he whispered, obvious that it's not a name he likes.

"That's... your name?"

"Y-yes, my daddy gave me it."

"You mean that jolteon is really your dad?"

I can see the color drain from his face as he looks at me. He starts to play with his paws until another shock coursed through his body. I thought it would be awkward to have a conversation like this, so I look back to the berry trees again. I walk over behind the oran berries to see some cheri berries. I stab one with my claw and picked it off the branch. I put it in my teeth and walk over to him, who was breathing heavily. I spit out the berry in front of him. He looked at me in confusion.

"Trust me, this will help with the paralysis, but the taste will probably be a bit... undesiring," I warn.

He looks at it then back at me showing that it was still hard for him to trust me. Finally, he took it in his mouth and started to chew slowly. His cheeks turned red, most likely due to the berry's heat. He swallowed and stuck out his tongue. "It's so hot!" he yells.

"Yes, but how is the paralysis treating you now?"

He blinked and inspected his body. He ran around the small area in circles, seeing that he wasn't getting shocked by what the jolteon did to him. "It's... gone," he says in disbelief.

"Now lets go do something about that scratch on your face," I add. 'Brat' looked at the open wound on it, and covers it, either in pain or embarassment.

"Not right now, I know where I can get it treated," he insist.

"If you really want. However, I want to ask you a question now."

"And what will that be?"

"What's your REAL name?"

"Brat, I already said it didn't I?"

"Do you like that name?"

"Umm... no."

"Why not change it?"

"What else can I change it to? I don't know a lot of names."

"There's a lot of names! There's Flare, Shade, Shard, Ruby, Emerald, or Zephyr! And that's not even all of them. And it just feels awful to call you by your name right now," I suggested. I sounded more excited than I needed to be, but it felt fun to say those names.

"I liked the second one you said: Shade."

I gave him a comforting grin before I placed my paw on his shoulder. "Well, it's nice to meet you Shade, my name's Sapphire."


	3. Chapter 2: Forging Bonds

**A/N: I'm sorry for the wait everyone. This chapter has actually been done for a week, but never got around to releasing it. Again, I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you guys enjoy. I also have plans on having the point of view change in some chapters, so from now on, before each chapter, it will say who's the one telling the story.**

**Sapphire POV**

"Sapphire, you saw that meanie jolteon?" Shade asked.

"I sure did. I've been watching you guys the moment the jolteon called you useless," I answered.

"But why help me now? Why didn't you help earlier?!"

"From my perspective, the jolteon wanted you...dead."

"But he said he would protect me if I were in trouble if I was to do what he said."

"If what he said was true, then he would've attacked me and 'protect' you from me I'm guessing. However, I was listening to him, observing his behaviour, and how he treats you. He truly doesn't seem to be the one to protect you, would be more likely to run and leave you for whatever would attack him. A kid like you should understand this."

"But I thought other parents are like this to others."

"That's not true. You admitted yourself, he isn't your real dad. So where is your real parents?"

"R-real parents?" he asked dumbfound. That was the moment where I knew that this eevee was lost and confused, desperate to do anything for safety.

"How old are you?"

"I'm... I don't know." He held his head low and kicked at the damp ground. I knew that he must have felt ashamed that he doesn't even know much about himself.

"Do you have any friends?"

"What are friends?"

"Ones that you love, pokemon that you have a close bond to."

"No, I don't."

"And do you consider the jolteon a friend?"

"...No."

"Hmm, do you wish to go back to him? Because I can just let you go back an-"

"No please! Don't let me get hurt by that...bitch!"

I raise an eye from the sudden swear. "Guessing you learned that word from him?"

"Y-yes." He started playing with his paws as if he was guilty of something.

"Just as expected, others not caring what they say around kits. I'm guessing you're pretty hungry?" That was when I heard the Eevee's stomach rumble. "I'll take that as a yes." I get up from the ground and walk up to inspect some of the berry trees. I see both the oran and cheri berry trees there, but not something that will be very tasty. However, I see some pink colored berries in the distance. "Do you like pecha berries?"

"Y-yes, but why are you doing this?"

I stay silent for a while, as I honestly do not know why I have done this in the first place. At least giving him an answer is the least I could do. "I feel bad for you, so I'm giving you the care that I have experienced for some time."

"Can you walk?" He gets up from his paws and stands. On all four, he slowly walks towards me, but collapse. I walk toward him and try to help him, but shakes his head.

"I can do this!" he yells. I back up and just wait. He tries again. All fours he may be on, but I noticed their shaking. Again he collapse. I sigh and go to the oran berry tree and grab one in my teeth. I toss it to him where it lands in front of him.

"If you want to walk yourself, try eating one of those and then continue. I'll be over there, waiting."

"No no! I actually need help, please," he pleaded. "Can you...lift me over there?"

I stare at him, his eyes supporting his plead. "Do you think you can do me a favor?"

"W-what kind of favor?" His voice is full of worry. I'll admit it myself, but I sounded just like the jolteon back there. I walk to him and lower my head to eye level and smile.

"I'm pretty sure that jolteon is still out there somewhere." I look into the sky, the sun shining upon us. "I want to bring him to justice. And you're going to help me. This is something you want as well I'm pretty sure."

"Is what you mean hurt him?" Shade asked, still confused, and cocked his head. "Like he hurt me?"

"There's going to be more than that. I'll make sure he doesn't touch another kit of another parent again." Shade's stomach growled again, he blushed and put his forelegs around it. I laugh, something I haven't done in a while. "But I guess you can't do it on an empty stomach."

I get on my stomach beside him and motion him to get on. He gets on slowly and grabs onto my sides. I get up and start walking. Due to the berry tree's distance, I attempt another conversation. "Do you know any attacks?" I start.

"Um, I know how to dig really far. And there is something I can do when I can make a dark ball at my mouth, but I haven't really used it much," he answers. Dig and shadow ball, not a bad moveset for a kit.

"Anything else, anything that doesn't hurt anyone?"

"I guess I can protect myself with some weird...wall I can make." Protect, an ability that is useful in almost any situation. "I forgot to mention, but I can't quite do it, I'm pretty sure it's useless telling."

"I'd still like to hear."

"Well, I remember my dad using this attack. His tail would glow and is able to use it as a weapon. I've tried it myself, but my tail only glows a little before it goes back to it's fluffiness." He waves his tail around and shifts around on my back."

"Dig, shadow ball, protect, and iron tail. Call yourself lucky Shade, your parents certainly knew what they were doing when you were born. I'm curious, why didn't you attack the jolteon with any of those or use dig to try and run away?"

"Well...he's able to hurt me at any time he wants, and he proved it to me by this." He painted at the scratch on his muzzle, which had stopped bleeding, but the wound still open. "He knows how to dig as well, so I can't do that. I tried to run away once on foot, but he just caught up to me and gave me another...shock treatment he calls it. Sapphire, I'm really scared of him and I want him to stop it."

"Well Shade, guess today is your lucky day. I have a plan that will make sure his ways are stopped. Plus...I can sympathise with you as I have suffered bad shocks when I was smaller."

"Really?"

"Yes. When I was little, I believed I can take on the world." I laugh at my own remark. "I pretended I was Arceus and that I was the strongest pokemon ever. I went out on my own and tried to take on a luxray. He could've stopped my heart if he actually wanted to try. The moment he tapped me with his tail, I experienced that same type of shock. As I was still weak, I cried and prayed that I wouldn't die. My father saved me and made sure I didn't die on him. I just don't want you to do to something stupid like slow painful shocks that could potentially stop your heart at some point."

"So if I stayed with him longer…"

"Then you were more likely to die than be protected. Have you ever felt it difficult to breath before?"

"Yes, after each shock treatment."

I stop in my tracks, as we were close to the berry trees with them being just a few feet in front of us. "You were never safe with him," I say to him, my voice filled with dread.

"Then what do I do?" he asked. "Then who'll take care of me?"

I just continue walking, simply avoiding the question. When we're close to the trees I let him get down himself. He walks up to the pecha tree, his small size not being able to reach any of them. "You said you knew iron tail, correct? I want to see you use it," I ask. He looks at me with a look at surprise.

"W-why?" he responds bewildered.

"If you can use it correctly and become an expert at using it any time, then you'll have more options to protect yourself if you are to run into predators. Use it on the tree and get some of the berries down." I stand behind, waiting for him to try.

"But…I'm scared that I might hurt myself."

"Here, watch me." I walk up to a nearby tree and look at its size. It has a rather thick trunk so I won't accidently tip this tree down. I move the muscles moving my tail in small circles as I haven't used this attack in a while. I jump, then my tail started to glow the white I wanted. I swing it at the tree's bark, where it was sliced clean off. "Iron tail is a powerful attack, and using it to its full extent is worth having. Now try it."

He stares at the pecha tree trunk and stands in an offensive stance. He moves his tail around a bit like I did. He closes his eyes, most likely thinking how his real father or I did it. His tail started to glow, but it wasn't the brilliant white that most iron tails were. He opened his eyes and decided to take a swing. He ran toward it his tail almost completely white. He spun from his front paw and took a swing. It was that moment it became strong enough to at least shake the tree. But before it could make contact, it lost the glow completely and his tail simply brushed against the trunk, Shade falling on his stomach.

"You're scared, aren't you?" I question, picking him up and getting him on all fours.

"I… I don't think I can do it. I just can't!" he answered, tears filling his eyes.

"Hey Shade, there's no need to cry over it." I walked over to the pecha tree and grabbed and snapped off a branch with around six berries on it. I set them down and sit beside him. "Do you know why you can't do it?"

He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I don't remember exactly. I-it had something to do with my real daddy, but I don't remember." He tried to grab for one of the pechas, but I gently put my paw over his, stopping him from grabbing one."

"You said you knew other moves beside iron tail. If you can't get iron tail down, then try to use your other attacks and abilities, see if they need improving. We'll try after you eat, okay? I'll help you along the way. And perhaps you can share with me more things about yourself?"

He smiles and looks at me, giving me a signal that he was listening. "I really appreciate that you're helping me with this Sapphire, and for that, thank you. But why do you want me to master these attacks?"

"So you can take care of yourself, without having the burden of a terrible caretaker. And in all honesty, I'm doing what I believe is right, making sure that you can do what I said earlier. Speaking of him, did he have a name?"

"His name I heard only once, but I think it was Voltage."

I let the name sink in for a moment before I think if I have heard the name before, taking my paw off his and close my eyes.

I remember back at some city and I was watching some sort of pokemon battle in a large building. There were two trainers battling on a field. One of them sent out an onix, letting out a loud battle cry. However, the other trainer let out a jolteon while calling out the words I remember. 'It's your turn Voltage!' the human yelled out. I watched the battle drag out for a while before several rocks entombed Voltage. Seconds later, he fell to the ground unable to battle. The human in the middle claimed that the gym leader was the winner of the battle.

I left seconds later after Voltage lost the battle, not acknowledging what he did or what his trainer did to him. The only thing I could assume that he was released after the battle or just any other time after it.

I feel the Shade tap my foreleg a few times, trying to get my attention. I open my eyes and look over to him. He is sitting on his bottom with his fore legs outstretched towards me with a pecha in between them. "It's important to show gratitude to those you love and...pokemon who are friends, like you, right?" Shade said, still offering the berry to me.

The moment he called me his friend gave me a feeling I didn't know what. I still didn't know the reason behind my concern for this eevee. I should have just killed it, eaten it perhaps, and forgotten, but I can't bring myself to do this to him. It bothered me too much. So I just did what I felt what was necessary. I smiled and took the berry and bit into it eagerly. He was eating his own berries with such a happy look on his face, which I was somehow glad to see. Shade seemed to help me with something I don't know of, but I decided that I should put this question to rest.

I was happy to have this eevee around and smiling.

He finished eating up his berries, then looked at me. "Wanna get started on shadow ball?" I ask him nicely.

"Yes! Gee, I want to get at least this move down before we go take down that meanie jolteon!" Shade said with enthusiasm.

I smile as we get up and move towards a large rock, a perfect target. However, before I start talking and getting on with shadow ball training, I recall back to my father's own words.

_Sapphire, killing isn't always the answer. Even if you watch me kill many pokemon, I simply defeat some and let them go on their own way. If who you're fighting isn't for food, then try and restrain yourself from killing them, start a conversation if you can. It may seem crazy, but remember these very words for the rest of your life, as I will not repeat this. It will be beneficial in the future._

Do these words apply to those I planned with Voltage? Should they? They probably do, and replanning will most likely be necessary. But the training is what was on my mind first.

"Ok, Shade, this time, I wanna see how you do with forming the shadow first. Show me as if you're trying to impress me," I ask, standing back a bit.

"I'll try," he responded nervously. He walked a bit closer to the large rock and opened his mouth. The orb formed, slowly getting bigger and bigger. That was when his eyes moved towards me, his muzzle still pointed toward the rock. That was when he fired it, the size and speed of it looking very strong. The moment of impact, it made the rock shatter into hundreds of pieces, scattering everywhere.

I was greatly impressed. Most shadow balls I have seen don't have enough potential force to destroy something like that. I could see a look of surprise in this eevee's face, probably not even realizing that he had it in him.

"I did it Sapphire! Wasn't that awesome!" he celebrates.

I chuckle. "Sure was surprising," I answer. "How about we check out your protect?"

"And how are we going to do that?"

I started backing up from him, giving a good distance between us. "Block one of my attacks."

The color drained from his face. "B-but what if you break through it and you accidentally cut me an…" he stopped talking as he looked at one of my paws, my right one's claws having grown in length and glowed a radiant purple.

"Then make sure it doesn't." I smirk and the length of my claw grows even more.

I got a running start, making sure I was slow enough for him to follow me with his eyes, but fast enough for him to react quickly. I jump in the air and ready my night slash. I see that he does indeed keep his eyes on me and looks at me in the air, almost like the fear was just taken away. Something I was happy to see.

As I was confident that this eevee was ready to defend himself, I take a swing.


End file.
